Understanding Christian Blogger Motivations: Woe Unto Me if I Blog Not the Gospel

Blogger motivations in general and motivations of religious bloggers have previously been studied, but there is a lack of studies specific to the motivations of bloggers who self-proclaim their Christianity to create a blog and maintain the blog. Forty-four bloggers participated in a self-administered survey questionnaire sent via email. They answered questions about their reasons to create a blog, original goals for their blog, and reasons to blog regularly. Motivations found in previous research were garnered from 11 studies, and the participants were asked to indicate which motivations resonated with them the majority of the time they blogged. They were asked to explain why the motive resonated with them. Results, not surprisingly, suggest these Christian bloggers were not motivated by the same motivations to the same degree as bloggers from previous research who are not vocal on their blogs about Christian, faith-based themes. The motivations such as community building, expressing opinions to influence others, or pouring out feelings and emotions do not seem to resonate as acutely with Christians as the motivations seem resonate with political- or corporate-oriented bloggers. Other motives such as documenting life, sharing thoughts out loud, entertaining self, or having a place to store their writings seemingly do not resonate with Christian bloggers as they do with other types of bloggers. These 44 Christians who blog are members of online Christian social, writing, and blogging groups, and are studied to see how being Christian might influence motivations for blogging, and explores reasons Christians have for creating media. This study also raises some interesting questions for future study such as why self-proclaimed Christians seem to have greater longevity for blogging than do authors of blogs with a non-religious focus.